10 Things You Didn’t Know About CSI Creator Anthony Zuiker

With his autobiography coming out on November 22, we took a look to see how Anthony Zuiker became the powerhouse writer and creator he is today. Read on to discover 10 interesting facts about Mr. CSI.By Elizabeth Perkins

Zuiker and his wife attended high school together: When they ran into each other years later, Zuiker held onto a “friendship card” that he bought for her—for over a year! That’s love!

Zuiker had a very complicated relationship with his father, a man of many moods and professions. His father’s suicide and aftermath plays a huge role in the book.

Zuiker really likes college: He attended University of La Verne, Arizona State University, Mt. San Antonio College, Cal Poly Pomona, and UNLV, earning an honorary doctorate from the latter.

Zuiker was very talented at forensics (and not the kind you’re thinking): He joined his school’s speech team, and his talents took him all the way to the national championships.

Before they were stars: Zuiker and actor Joey Slotnick were on the same forensics team! Slotnick went on to costar in such TV series as The Single Guy, Alias, Boston Public, Nip/Tuck, and CSI (of course).

Life as a bellhop: Zuiker worked his way up to bellhop at a Vegas hotel and had many interesting encounters—including the aftermath of an animal sacrifice and a very interesting experience with Rodney Dangerfield. And no, those incidents were not related.

Zuiker was an inventor (and not very successful): His failures included a belt with waist sizes printed by each of the holes, a prototype for a new kind of top for tins of chewing tobacco (which earned him the wrath of the US Tobacco Company), and various board games.

Man of many jobs: One of Zuiker’s first paid “creative” jobs was coming up with a better billboard for a Vegas sex shop. Also, Zuiker wasn’t always in entertainment and actually worked as a broker for Merrill Lynch before being fired for an offhanded comment to a vice president.

Sweet success: Zuiker sold his first script, a movie called The Runner, for $35,000.

Life imitating art: When tagging along with cops and CSIs for research, Zuiker was actually responsible for finding a murder suspect hiding in a hotel room!